Ticketmaster is often one of the top names that come to mind when selling or buying tickets. Its reputation as a go-to platform for event tickets is well-deserved as it caters to millions of users worldwide, selling tickets to a wide range of events.
Since Ticketmaster sells tickets to several concerts and sports events, it has become the go-to for such events. However, for event organizers, managing everything from ticket sales to event planning on different platforms is a juggling act. Also, Ticketmaster has been under fire with anti-trust lawsuits and claims that they are taking advantage of the fans and charging service fees that are too high.
As they have been in hot water, it is smart to look for Ticketmaster competitors and alternatives. Also, the convenience of going for an all-in-one event management platform catering to all your needs will be a breeze. So, let’s get into it.
What is Ticketmaster?
Ticketmaster is an event ticketing company specializing in concerts, sports, and special events.
The company’s clientele includes various stakeholders such as venues, artists, and event promoters. Through Ticketmaster’s platform, clients retain control over their events, including setting ticket prices, while Ticketmaster handles the ticket sales process.
Ticketmaster Review: Key Features
Venue Configuration & Pricing Management
By saving venue configurations and frequently used price levels into event templates, organizers can set up event ticket tiers quickly. It allows them to visualize the impact on potential revenue in real time.
Hold Management
Organizers can enable production and promoter holds into event templates to streamline the event creation process. Additionally, they can modify the holds on the fly throughout the event planning journey.
Inventory Allocation & Pre-sales
Ticketmaster allows organizers to designate specific portions of their ticket inventory to offers and presales. Whether creating custom offers or utilizing self-service templates, organizers can set up events by configuring offers ahead of time in event templates.
Pricing
Ticketmaster service fee is calculated as a percentage of the ticket price. These can fluctuate based on the type of event and its location. Typically, the service fee falls within the range of 6% to 12% of the ticket price, with an average fee hovering around 10%.
User Reviews
- “It helps event Organizers to make their tickets available through the marketplace, which includes websites, apps, and Fan Support centers of Ticketmaster.” – Verified User
- “It’s a convenient and easy way to make ticket purchases.” – Patrick K.
- “It doesn’t let me import tickets purchased from elsewhere.” – Piyush C.
- “I find the fees to be much higher than I would like.” – John P.
Ticketmaster is a prominent choice in the ticketing industry, offering a range of features and accessibility options. However, some users find their service fee to be on the higher side. Despite their strengths, many Ticketmaster competitors offer robust event management features with ticketing at a lower cost, providing organizers with alternative solutions to consider.
Ticketmaster Competitors and Alternatives
1. vFairs
vFairs offers an all-in-one event management software to help organizers streamline their event ticketing and registration process. As one of the top event ticketing companies, vFairs manages registrations and payments through custom registration forms, tiered ticketing segments, and integration with popular payment platforms.
Since there is a consolidated ticketing process in a single platform, all the data is centralized and synchronized. With this ticketing platform, capturing payments for your event is as simple as it can get.
Key Features
Discounts and Ticketing Tiers
vFairs allows organizers to offer different pricing options with tiered structures for different attendee segments. Organizers can offer various discount codes, including early bird discounts and group discounts. There are group registration options, allowing companies to purchase tickets in bulk for their employees.
Payment Integrations
The vFairs ticketing system is supported by renowned payment gateways such as PayPal and Stripe, offering organizers full autonomy in their payment collection. Payment collection is all done through the payment platform via direct integration and they can directly receive revenue through their provider.
Seat Selection and User Segmentation
Attendees can select their seats in the auditorium during registration for exclusive events. The platform automatically segments users based on their event registration responses, allowing organizers to offer tailored access, such as VIPs or general admission attendees.
Custom Add-ons for Attendees
Attendees can personalize their event experience by selecting specific sessions or content preferences at the time of registration. This flexibility enables them to tailor their event journey and access exclusive content.
User Reviews
- “The ticketing and registration management has helped us automate processes that we were once doing manually.” – Sadra D.
- “I needed a registration and ticketing platform, as well as an app and a support team. With vFairs, we got it all! I have been a customer for 6 years and will continue to be.” – Kelsey P.
- “The platform itself has a ton of great features to host a virtual event. It has everything you need from registration, and email marketing, to the virtual platform itself (exhibit hall, networking lounges, sessions, etc.).” – Verified User
- “vFairs also solved our registration check-in process which went smoothly, and the app was user-friendly to use for our staff and attendees.” – Verified User
2. Eventbrite
Eventbrite is an affordable ticketing and marketing platform that facilitates event creation, management, and promotion. With Eventbrite, organizers gain access to a vast network of over 90 million active ticket-buyers, driving unparalleled visibility and engagement among target audiences.
With configurable event pages and flexible payout options, Eventbrite empowers organizers to monitor ticket sales, conduct attendee check-ins, and access real-time event data. With scheduled payouts, embedded checkouts, and promo codes, the platform makes ticketing easier.
However, Eventbrite has a complex pricing structure, especially for large-scale events. Also, there are so many listed events that getting the right attention to your event becomes harder.
Key Features
Event Creation and Ticketing Tools
Organizers can effortlessly post events, set up online ticketing systems, and generate tickets for both in-person and virtual events in minutes.
Customizable Event Pages
Eventbrite provides customizable event pages that engage and inform attendees from the initial headline to the checkout process. These tailored pages enhance attendee engagement and satisfaction.
Flexible Event Payouts
Event organizers can set up flexible online ticket payouts for their events on custom schedules, ensuring quick and convenient payments. This feature enables organizers to manage their finances securely.
Eventbrite Organizer App
With Eventbrite, organizers can monitor on-site and online ticket sales, conduct attendee check-ins, and access real-time event data on the go. This mobile app offers convenience and flexibility for managing events.
User Reviews
- “Eventbrite is our solution to our monthly event ticket sales and it is effective in tracking sales. We’ve seen increased ticket sales with the use of this platform.” – Tracy G.
- “It perhaps looks a little dated from the customer-facing side compared to other ticket vendors so it would be nice to see them come in line with others in that respect.” – Ally G.
- “It is a simple and attractive way to learn about new events according to my interests. It also facilitates the purchase and management of tickets.” – Martha C.
- “When there was a need to transfer tickets to another day/time, it was very annoying and time-consuming because you have to move one ticket at a time. You cannot move an entire order. It took far too much time as a business to warrant keeping this platform for our online ticket sales.” – Meghan K.
3. Cvent
Cvent offers a comprehensive event registration platform designed to capture event registrations through branded events. With a focus on responsiveness, intuitiveness, and flexibility, Cvent’s registration tech allows organizers to kick off their events in the right direction.
Cvent also offers marketing tools, a registration website, agenda management, payment services, and tracking and reporting capabilities. This enables organizers to maximize event engagement.
However, access control as per event type is an issue with Cvent. Users had problems differentiating between attendees with simple and premium tickets.
Key Features
Design Flexibility
Cvent’s platform allows organizers to design event sites with drag-and-drop widgets. From controlling display to setting brand styling sitewide, organizers can create visually appealing and on-brand event experiences.
Promotional Tools
Organizers can launch email marketing campaigns, agenda and speaker promotion, early bird pricing, and automated reminder emails to drive registrations.
Data Analysis and Reporting
With Cvent’s analytics capabilities, organizers can collect and analyze data before, during, and after events to demonstrate ROI effectively. Visual dashboards, traffic monitoring, registration tracking, and data visibility to stakeholders ensure informed decision-making.
User Reviews
- “Gave us a ticket buying platform that complied with all our needs for our 5 day conference.” – Annabel H.
- “One of the challenges we have for our large events is keeping track of who has a ticket to sit and eat at the event (vs other people just hanging out).” – Verified User
- “Things are scattered around. Some things you manage under event, some under Admin. It’s hard to keep it all straight.” – Jen H.
- “When Cvent took over, the customer service disappeared. When we were able to reach someone, the language barrier made it difficult to accomplish anything.” – Weatherington W.
4. Webex
Webex offers a platform for creating and managing event registrations. With the ability to create both free and paid tickets, organizers can easily set up payment information and publish registration pages tailored to their event needs. The platform has customizable checkout forms and questions, along with the option to set up promo codes for discounts or hidden tickets, providing organizers with flexibility in ticket management.
However, one issue that many users have with this platform is the difficulty of editing ticket types as per their preference. There is not much flexibility around this option.
Key Features
Ticket Creation and Management
Organizers have options to set unique prices, available quantities, and tax rates for tickets for each attendee segment. They can create exclusive groups and allocate tickets based on attendee preferences.
Advanced Ticket Settings
Webex Events offers advanced settings, allowing organizers to control ticket availability, visibility, and sales periods. Organizers can set specific sales open and close dates, add purchase limits, and choose from visibility options such as visible, hidden, or hidden when unavailable. These settings provide organizers with greater control over ticket sales and attendee access.
Payment Options and Integration
The platform integrates with Stripe to process payments for event registrations. Organizers can connect their Stripe accounts or choose to offer alternative payment options such as invoices or checks for offline payments.
Terms & Conditions and Refunds Management
Organizers can customize their terms & conditions and refund policies, providing clarity to attendees regarding event policies and procedures. The platform offers a user-friendly interface for editing and updating them.
User Reviews
- “We really liked the ticket purchasing feature, this made selling tickets for both in-person and virtual attendees painless.” – Laura C.
- “I also dislike that you can’t change the kind of ticket that may have been put into the system originally. Things change, this should be something that can change also.” – Brooke G.
- “We needed to have separate messages for in-person attendees vs. virtual attendees and could not because our ticket types were set up by college student, industry professional, etc. rather than just an in-person ticket and virtual ticket.” – Mackenzie K.
- “I wish there was a way to edit the ticket type purchased when the tickets are the same cost. An ability for only backend users to edit/update ticket type would be a great add!” – Simona H.
5. Whova
Whova offers a registration solution that caters to both free and paid events, ensuring flexibility and affordability for event organizers. For free events, the registration solution is entirely free, while for paid events, organizers have the option to pass on a small fee to registrants, allowing them to pay nothing.
With Whova, organizers can easily create tickets, customize registration forms, and manage sales through ticketing webpages, streamlining the ticketing process for attendees.
However, setup and customization of event and registration pages can be complicated.
Key Features
Personalized Registration for Ticket Tiers
Whova enables organizers to customize registration forms and apply discounts, and add-ons during registration. Organizers can create separate registration forms for different ticket types, collect relevant information from attendees, and send unique confirmation emails based on ticket types.
Real-Time Ticket Sale Metrics
The platform offers embeddable registration widgets to link or embed on the event website. Organizers can track ticket sales and registrants in real time, gaining valuable insights into conversion.
Secure Payout for Services
Whova ensures secure payment processing through credit and debit cards via Stripe.
Customer Service
Whova offers quick responses within 30 minutes on business days, ensuring prompt assistance and support for event organizers.
User Reviews
- “We could separate attendees into different groups based on sessions they registered for and personalize the content very easily. I believe we used the ticket session mapping feature.” – Mark W.
- “Using Whova makes our events feel smarter and much more up to date, it allows faster registration check-in.” – Verified User
- “Probably need a few more capture points for visitors on registration. Should make registration fields mandatory so they are unable to progress to the next field without completing.” – Tracey C.
- “There is not a built-in registration process for check and purchase order payments. We would like to customize the Speaker forms and remove unnecessary language and requirements.” – Verified User
Ticketmaster Alternatives G2 Rating Comparison
*as of Q2 2024
Final Verdict
Although Ticketmaster remains a dominant force in the event ticketing industry, it does have its limitations. While it offers extensive reach and functionality, its pricing structure and lack of flexibility may deter some event organizers.
Other companies like Ticketmaster present compelling alternatives. vFairs, in particular, addresses Ticketmaster’s shortcomings by providing customizable registration forms, seamless integration with event management tools, and personalized registration experiences for different ticket types.
With its array of features and affordability, vFairs emerges as a top competitor to Ticketmaster, providing event organizers with an alternative that meets their diverse needs.
